Ryan Milem

I am from York, South Carolina. I attended college at Clemson University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and a minor in Finance. I always wanted to own my own business but didn’t ever really know what product I wanted to sell. All I knew, was that to be a success, I needed to love the product I sold so that I would wake up and work hard every day without someone telling me I had to. I also knew that understanding how to manage the finances of a company would be the only way for my business to remain successful.

After I graduated college, I decided to leave my comfort zone and move to Los Angeles. I enjoyed my time there and appreciated the life lessons I learned, but I quickly wandered my way into credit card debt and found myself living paycheck to paycheck. All I did was what “normal” people do, but I felt like I was working too hard to be feeling this broke and knew I was doing something wrong. I began listening to podcasts on financial advice and luckily came across Dave Ramsey. I decided to move back east and get a job in banking. I immediately started working on Dave Ramsey’s ‘7 Baby Steps’ and was debt-free in 6 months and had a fully-funded emergency fund shortly after that. I was convinced this plan was the real deal!

While working in banking, I was constantly being encouraged to sell credit cards to customers. I had recently cut up my credit cards, so this made me realize I might be working in the wrong industry. I began looking for a new career and thought it would be great if I could find a place that offers financial advice to people aligned with the ‘7 Baby Steps’ method. I knew that if I could find that firm, I could feel a sense of purpose and enjoy waking up to go to work every day. I began searching for SmartVestor Pros in my area and found SmartPro Financial in Belmont NC and the rest is history! I love having the opportunity to give people hope and walk with them along the 7 baby steps by having the heart of a teacher and helping them understand how to be in control of their financial success. You are the SmartVestor with goals in mind. I am the Pro that can help get you there.